The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1887-09-23
SEE
4 HISTORY OF ADVENTURE.
BY q. RIDER aAaaARp.

lamp : Q ono Of tho small passages thef +
had noticed opening. out Of the oenfrsl
saye. This we followed for about =
hacess when It suddenly widened out into
AsmaA chamber, about eight fee< eouars.
md hsw1 cut cf the living rock. On ~
Ade q his chamber WAS stone Slab. aNnaf
zee feet from the ground, and runnino
entire length, like q bunk in : cahin.
and ON this he indicated I was to sleep.
There was no window or air.hole to the
chamber, and no furniture, and o lookine
y 1t more closely I came to the disturbing
conclusion Tin which, a I afterward an.
covered. I was quite right that It had orig.
anaily served for a sepulcher for the dead
xatner tnan q sleeping place for the living.
the slab being designed to receive thu
corpse OF the departed. The thought made
me shudder In spite Of myself; but seeing
that ! must sleep somewhere, I got over
the feeling as best I might. and returned
70 the cavern to get my blanket, which had
oeen rough up from the boat with the
otner Things. There I met job, who, hRv.
ing oeen lnductcd to a similar apartment.
nae latiy declined to sleep In It, saying
snas the took OF the place gave him ths
and buried IN his grandfather's brick grave
at once, end expressed his determination
OIL slee ping with me IL I would allow him.
which, of course, I was only too glad TODD.
The night passed very comfortably on
the whole. I say on the whole, for person.
ally l went through a most horrible night
mare of being buried alive, induced, NO
doubt. by the sepulclral nature of my sur.
roundings. AT dawn we were aroused by
a large trisnpeting sound, produced, as We
afterwa1d discovered, by O young Anna.
hagger blowing through a hole bored IN
its side into n followed elephant tusk.
which was kept for the purpose.
Iak1ng the hint, we got up, and went
down to the stream to wash, after which
tho morning meal was served. At break.
last n OF tho women, no longer quite
young, advanced and publicly kissed job,
He sprung to his feet. and pushed the
woman. q buxom party about thirty, from
him.
We'll, I never!" he gasped; whereupon
shc embraced him again.
BE of with youl Get away, o minxIn
he shouted, waving the wooden spoon with
which he was eating his breakfast up and
down before the lady's face. BEG POUR
pardon, gentlemen. lam sure I haven't
encouraged her. Oh Lordl she's coming
.or me again. Hold her, Mr.. Holly; please
nold her! lcan't stand it; 1 can't indeed.
rms mas never happened to me before, gen.
tlemsn, never! There's nothing against
my character;;" and here lie broke off. and
ran Us hard as he could go down the cave:
and for once saw the A%malagger laugh.
AS for the woman, however, she did not
augh. On the contrary, she seemed to
6ristle with fury, which the mockcry Of
me other women about only served to in-
engsfy. She stonsl there literally snarling
a ohaklng with indignation; and seeing
aer. I wished Jobs scruples had been ut
Ser1cho-for1ning a shrewd guess that his
admirable behavior had endangered our
Threats. Nor, as tho sequel shows, was /
wrong.
Ihe lady having retreated, Job returned
great state of nervousness, and keen.
ing his weather eye fixed upon every wom-
an who came near him. / took an oppor.
unity to explain to our hosts that Job was
married man, and had had very unhappy
experiences in his domestic relations,
which accounted for his presence here, and
his terror ut the sight of q woman; but my
Remarks We're received in grim silence, It
being evident that our retniner's behavior
was considered as a slight to the 'house-
bold" ut large, although the women, after
the manner of their more civilized sisters,
made merry at tho rebuff of their compan-
ion.
At first we were much puzzled as to the
origin and constitution of this extraordin-
airy race, points upon which they were
stngularlyN uncommunicative. As the time
went on-for the next four days passed
without any striking event-we learned
something from Leo's lady-friend Ustanc,
who, by the way, stuck to that young gen
tlem;in like his own shadow. A%stoorigin,
they had none, ut least so far as she was
aware. There were, however, she In
formed us, mounds Of masonry and many
pillars near the place where She lived,
which was called Kor, and which the wise
said had once been houses wherein men
lived, and it was suggested that they were
descended from these men. No one, how.
ever, dared go near these great ruins, be-
cause they were haunted; they only looked
on them from a distance. Other similar
ruins were to be seen, she had heard, in
various parts of the country, that is, wher.
ever one of the mountains rose above the
level Of the swamp. Also the caves in
which they lived had been followed out of
the rocks by men, perhaps the same who
built the cities. They themselves had no
WAAelCA laws, Oilly CuSlOul, WLACu WuS,
however, quito us binding as law. II any
man offended against the custom, he was
put tndeath by order of the Father of the
4 household" I asked how he was put to
death, and she only smiled, and said that
might see one day soon.
They had a queen, however. She was
their queen, but she was very rarely seen,
perhaps once in two or three years, when
she came forth to pass sentence on some
offenders, and when seen was muff1ed up
in big cloak, s that nobody could look
upon her face. Those who waited upon
her werc deaf and dumb, and therefore
could tell no tales, but it was reported that
she was lovely as no other woman wa
lovely, or ever had been. It was rumored
also that she vas immortal, and had power
over all things, but she, Ustane, could say
nothing of oil that. What she believed
was that the queen chose a husband from
time to time, and Us soon Us q female child
was born, this husband, who was never
again seen, was put to death. Then the
female child grew up, and took the place
Of the queen when its mother died andhad
haen hurled in the great caves. Rnt nf
these matters lone could speak for certain.
Only She was obeyed the length
and breadth of the land. and to question
her command was certain death. She kept
aguard, but had no regular army, and to
disobey her was to die.
I asked what the land was, and how
many people lived in it. She answered
that there were ten ..Households" like this